Closure for poison bottles



Dec. 13, 1960 E. J. TOWNS 2,964,207

CLOSURE FOR POISON BOTTLES Filed April 15, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 POISON FIG. 2

22 32 I19 [1:1 :6 tn 26 INVENTOR EDWARD J. TOWNS AGENT Dec. '13, 1960 E. J. TOWNS CLOSURE FOR POISON BOTTLES 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed April 15, 1958 POI 8 ON INVENTOR EDWARD J. TOW/V3 AGENT Uflltl States Patent CLOSURE FOR POISON BOTTLES Edward J. Towns, 53 Mounthaven Drive, Livingston,

N.J., assignor of one-tenth to Bryant W. Gritfin, Summit, NJ.

Filed Apr. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 728,719

4 Claims. (Cl. 215-9) This application which is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 627,216, filed December 10, 1956, entitled, Closure For Poison Bottles, etc. and the invention hereof relates generally to container closures and more specifically to a safety closure for poison, etc. containers which will be difiicult for children to remove.

Container closures of this general type are known in the art but have not been popularly accepted by the public for a number of reasons. Among these are: a complexity of construction and assembly resulting in an excessive and impractical manufacturing cost; a difficulty of manipula* tion in applying and removing the closure so that only persons having a mechanical bent or those thoroughly familiar with the structure of the closure can remove it without annoyance; and a poorly engineered design resulting in easy failure and short life of the closure.

.A further difiiculty with prior art closures of this type resides in an inability to produce the same by mass production molding and assembly methods because of struc* tural design; an undesirable overall size of the two parts usually forming the closure resulting in an incongruous appearance as to relative size when applied to a container and in an unnecessary added cost of material; and in an unnecessary clearance between the two parts resulting in a relative rocking therebetween and in a lack of confi deuce in the closure by a user.

Accordingly, the chief object of the present invention is to provide an improved safety closure for poison contain-.

ers, etc., which will obviate the above and other disadvan tages characterizing prior art structures.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a safety closure for containers which will appear to be unremovable to children no matter how manipulated by them while being readily removable by adults unfamiliar with the structure.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide an improved safety closure for containers which may be of the bayonet type as well as the screw closure ty e.

3A further important object of the present invention is to provide a two-part safety closure for containers which parts are readily clutched together by adults for removal while the parts are only relatively rotatable and not removable when manipulated by children.

A still further important object of the present invention is to provide an improved two-part safety-closure for containers which embodies material economies of manufacture and an indefinite life so as to encourage its re-use.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a child-proof container closure of improved structure as to strength and operation of the cooperating parts, as to ease in manufacture and assembly, and as to size and appearance when mounted on a container.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawings, I have shown two embodiments of the invention. In these showings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the invention in operative position on a container;

Figure 2 is a perspective, exploded view to an enlarged scale of the two-part safety closure comprising the present invention;

Figure 3 is a central, vertical cross-sectional view of the two-part closure in assembled but unclutched relationship;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 of the closure as adapted for use with a bayonet type container with the two parts in clutched relationship;

Figure 6 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention in operative position on a container;

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the inner part of the twopart closure;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the outer part of the two-part closure;

Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the two-part closure in assembled relationship;

Figure 10 is a central, vertical, cross-sectional view of the two-part closure in assembled but unclutched relationship;

Figure 11 is a similar view with the two parts in clutched relationship; and

Figure 12 is an elevational view'of the assembled closure, a portion being broken away to illustrate the engagement of the clutching members on the near side of the cap during its positioning on a closure.

In its broadest aspects, the present invention contemplates a two-part container closure irremovably connected for relative rotation and for relative axial movement against integrally formed spring means to effect a clutching of the two parts to enable simultaneous rotation of the two parts in either direction as desired.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 10 designates an outer closure part which is adapted to be snapped over an inner closure part 12 manually or by conventional machinery for relative or simultaneously rotation therewith as will be described.

The parts 10 and 12 comprising the safety closure of the present invention are preferably, although not necessarily, formed of plastic material and may be molded in a die by compression or injection molding. Any plastic having the characteristics of a solid ethylene polymer, when molded into the structure to be described, is particularly well adapted for the purpose in question in that it combines strength and substantial stiffness with resilience, the latter characteristic aiding in the snapping together during assembly of the two closure parts.

As seen in Figures 24 inclusive, the inner closure part 12 is screw-threaded on its inner periphery as at 14 for engagement with the threaded neck of a container and its outer periphery is provided with a circumferential slot 16 opening onto which are a pair of diametrically opposed short slots 18, one of which is of greater circumferential length than the other for a reason which will become apparent.

Integrally molded with the closed slightly recessed top of the inner closure part 12 are a plurality of radially inwardly and upwardly directed arms 20 which, due to the characteristics of the material from which the closure parts are molded, function as spring arms acting against the inner top surface of the outer cap 10 to maintain the two parts 10 and 12 in the relatively rotatable position shown in Figure 3. A tapered, inner sealing tube 22 for engagement with the mouth of containers dependscentrally from and is formed integrally with the inner part 12.

areformed on-the inner surface of the outer part 19 and include tapered lower edges 26. The "radial distance between the inner ends of :the lugs 24 is less than the outer diameter of the inner part 12 whose upper peripheral edge is beveled as at 28.

It will now be readily apparent that the outer and inner-closureparts and '12 may be readily snapped irremovably together either manually or by machines. This 'is accomplished by axially aligning the parts and moving the outer part '10 down over the'inner part '12.

As the lugs 24 engage the inner part 12, their tapered bottom edges 26-cooperate with the beveled edge 28 to distort the outerpart 10-due to'the resilience of the material and permit the lugs '24 toslide-down the side of the inner part 12 and snap into the circumferential slot 16, thus permanently uniting theparts. The spring arms 20 maintain the two parts in the relative vertical position shown in'Figure '3 so that they maybe relatively rotated, the lugs tracking in the slot 16. It will be noted that the upper'surface of the lugs terminate coincident with and are strengthened by an increased thickness of the outer part Ill-extending from the line 30 upwardly, the lesser thickness below enabling the necessary flexing of the outer part 12 during jointure with the inner part.

The lugs 24 are of different circumferential length and each is slightly shorter than the slots 18 into which they are adapted to move when aligned therewith when the outer part 10 is pushed against the action of the spring arms 20 as shown in Figure 5, a bayonet bottle connection 32 being shown. It is to be noted that the longer lug will not enter the shorter slot so that at only one position in 360 degrees of rotation is it possible to clutch the inner :and outer parts together for simultaneous rotation to remove or apply the closure.

It will be appreciated that if a childshould attempt to removethe closure, "its routine turning of the outer part (which is knurled for convenience) will not effect rotation of the inner part. Furthermore, outward pulling of the outer part will be stoutly resisted by the lugs 24 while it is extremely unlikely that inward pushing would occur at the one position where clutching of the two closure parts can be effected.

In the preferred embodiment ofthe invention as disclosed in Figures 6-12 inclusive, the outer cap part 10 has an inner diameter a little greater than but substantially equal to the outer diameter of the inner cap part12 so that when the two parts are assembled, there is no radial play between the two and relative rocking of the parts is entirely eliminated. The molding of the parts is such as to impart a smooth and glossy finish to all surfaces so that, despite the extremely close fit of the inner and outer parts, relative rotation and axial movement therebetween is freely eifected.

The inner periphery of the bottom of the outer part 10 is provided with a very small upwardly tapered flange 34 (best seen in Figure 11) and the outer periphery of the bottom of the inner part 12 is provided with a similar but downwardly tapered flange 36. The two parts are irremovably assembled by manual or machine means by nesting theinner part 12 within the outer part 10 until the flanges 34 and 36 engage, and then snapping them past each other. .This is possible due to the flexible nature of the plastic material and the cooperating tapers ofthe fiangesbut attempted separation of the two parts results in fracture of one or both of the flanges.

The interior of the inner part 12 may be threaded as at 38 for co-operation with a threaded container neck or may have bayonet, etc. type members and a flat, antitoxic seal-40 is mounted against the under surface of the top.

"The inner circular 'portion 41 of the upper surface of the'inner part 12 (Figure 7) is provided with a'plurality of spaced, circumferentially arranged, upwardly inclined,- spring arms 42 which are formed integrally with the part "12; and engage,the:smooth,llower central laurface of the outer cap 10 to maintain the two parts in the unclutchedposition of Figure 10. It-will "be noted "that the cross-sectional area of each of the spring arms 42 increases from its outer end toward its base. This construction of the arms 42 requires that as the relative axial movement of the two parts from the unclutched position of Figure 10 to the clutched position of Figure 11 progresses, a progressively larger force will need to be exerted to overcome'the opposing forces of the spring arms 42 which vtend ,to .keep the inner and outer parts in the relative positions 'shown in Figure 10.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the cooperating members integrally formed on the inner and outer parts-which enable 'the simultaneous rotation of the two parts when clutched together. As seen in Figure 8, an outer annular portion of the lower face of the outer part 10 is provided with a plurality of depending, circumferentially arranged, regularly spaced, rectangular lugs 44 the bottom surfaces of which are tapered from one edge 45 toward the otheredge 46 for a purpose to be described. The lugs 44 are arranged so that their axial centerIines coincide with the radius of the cap as indicated by-the line ZZ.

A corresponding circumferential area of the upper surface of the inner part 12 is provided with a similar number of spaced, upstanding, generally trapezoidal lugs 48 and it will be noted that the inclined sides of any given lug (Figure 7) are formed on lines offset from the radial by half'the width of a-lug 44. Thus in clutched position to positiont-he closure or remove it one face of each lug 44 '(dotted'lines, Figure 7) will have full lateral face contact with one inclined face of each of the trapezoidal lugs 48 to=aflord a maximum of strength and l'ong life-inuse.

It will be noted duetothe taper of the bottom 'surfaces of the lugs 44, that each lug'edge 46 depends lower than the edge 4'5 and hence will-engage the trapezoidal lugs '48 first which engagement will be positive in "a closure positioning direction and ineifective, dueto the taper, in a closure removing direction. Accordingly, removal of the closure will require a greater downward movement of the outer part 10 into clutching position with the inner part 12 to obtain simultaneous rotation of both parts 10 and 12 than will be required for closure positioning on a container.

.It will'be remembered that compression ofthe spring arms 42 requires increasing force as compressionprogresses. Accordingly, it is substantially more difiicult to positively engage the faces of the lugs 44, for re moval of the closure than for positioning the same.

It will now bereadily apparent that the preferred, embodiment of the invention forms a compact, non-rockable two part closure involving a minimum of material and a maximum of strength and susceptibility to mass molding production and assembly, and is not likely to be removed by children although being readily removable by adults.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A substantially tamper-proof closure for containers of dangerous drugs to preclude easy access to their contents by children, comprising an inner threaded part adapted to bescrewed on a threaded containerneclc, an outer part mQunted on said inner part and having ,its inner side wallsubstantiallyfully and snugly contacting the .entire outer side wall of saidinnenpart toprevent relative rocking of the, parts, saidinner and outerparts.

howeverbeingcapable of ,,relative rotary and axial ,L'Siidv ingmovement,interengageable .lugs .on ,andjntegral with the respective parts for clutching them togetherimone position of axial displacement of the two parts, said lugs being disengaged from each other in a second position of axial displacement of said two parts, spring members integral with one of said two parts and lying between adjacent surfaces of the two parts for biasing them into said second position wherein the lugs are disengaged, an integral upwardly tapered annular flange extending from the inner wall at the bottom of the outer part and an integral downwardly tapered annular flange projecting outwardly from the outer wall of the bottom of the inner part, said two flanges being slideable past each other on assembly of said two parts but thereafter being interengageable to preclude separation of said parts without substantial destruction of at least one of said flanges and the part with which it is integral.

2. A substantially tamper-proof closure for containers of dangerous drugs to preclude easy access to their contents by children, comprising an inner part adapted to be mounted on a container neck, an outer part mounted on said inner part and having its inner side wall substantially fully and snugly contacting the entire outer side wall of said inner part to prevent relative rocking of the parts, said inner and outer parts however being capable of relative rotary and axial sliding movement, interengageable lugs on an integral with the respective parts for clutching them together in one position of axial displacement of the two parts, said lugs being disengaged from each other in a second position of axial displacement of said two parts, spring fingers integral with one of said two parts and lying between adjacent surfaces of the two parts for biasing them into said second position wherein the lugs are disengaged, an integral upwardly tapered flange extending from the inner wall at the bottom of the outer part and an integral downwardly tapered flange projecting outwardly from the outer wall of the bottom of the inner part, said two flanges being slidable past each other on assembly of said two parts but thereafter being interengageable to preclude separation of said parts without substantial destruction of at least one of said flanges and the part with which it is integral and said two parts each being of plasticv material.

3. A substantially tamper-proof closure for containers of dangerous drugs to preclude unauthorized access to their contents comprising an inner internally threaded cap part adapted to be screwed onto a threaded container neck, said part having an outer cylindrical surface and a top portion, lugs integral with and extending from said top portion, spring fingers integral with and extending from said top portion, an outer cap part having an inner cylindrical surface admeasured to fit snugly but rotatably and slidably on the cllindrical surface of said inner cap part without rocking, said outer cap having a top portion overlying said first-named top portion, lugs integral with said second-named top portion and movable from an uncoupled position into a second position for coupling engagement with said first-named lugs against the biasing action of said spring fingers for effecting rotation of the inner cap part with the outer cap part, said spring fingers normally maintaining the uncoupled position of said lugs so that rotation of the outer cap part will not normally effect rotation of the inner cap part, an integral upwardly tapered flange extending from the inner cylindrical wall of the outer cap part, and an integral downwardly tapered flange projecting outwardly from the cylindrical wall of the inner cap part, said two flanges being movable past each other on assembly of said two cap parts but thereafter interengaging each other to preclude separation of the two cap parts without substantial destruction of at least one of said flanges and the cap part with which it is integral.

4. A substantially tamper-proof closure for containers of dangerous drugs to preclude easy access to their contents by children, comprising an inner threaded part adapted to be screwed on a threaded container neck, an outer part mounted on said inner part and having its inner side wall substantially fully and snugly contacting the entire outer side wall of said inner part to prevent relative rocking of the parts, said inner and outer parts however being capable of relative rotary and axial sliding movement, interengageable lugs on and integral with the respective parts for clutching them together in one position of axial displacement of the two parts, said lugs being disengaged from each other in a second position of axial displacement of said two parts, spring members integral with one of said two parts and lying between adjacent surfaces of the two parts for biasing them into said second position whrein the lugs are disengaged, and means including an integral upwardly tapered flange extending from the inner wall of the outer part and- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sentman Nov. 17, 1936 Christiansson et al. Aug. 12, 1958 

